Shelter System

ABSTRACT

A shelter system comprising a flexible canopy supported by a plurality of cylindrical tubular poles where the poles comprise a novel assembly for attaching the canopy, ground straps and auxiliary cables to the top of the poles, including an expansion plug disposed in the top end of each tubular pole for anchoring a shaft disposed coaxially with the longitudinal axis of the tube which shaft carries at least one bracket plate and a portion of the canopy.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a system of components that cooperate to form a temporary shelter of the type having perimetrical supporting poles and a fabric canopy structure for a top.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The prior art is abundantly provided with apparatus and methods for constructing temporary shelters such as fully enclosed tents and canopy covers, with or without side panels. The detailed construction of the supporting poles, or legs, of the structure is frequently material to the novelty of the structure. Exemplary of such apparatus is the portable umbrella shelter shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,872 where the central supporting pole functions in a number of different capacities. U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,500 discloses a knockdown canopy shelter in which the extensible support poles are extended to form support for the canopy structure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,161 illustrates a canopy supported by a central pole and a number of peripheral posts that are held in position by what appear to be rope stays, however there is no disclosure as to how the stays are connected to the supporting posts. U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,822 illustrates a conventional method of interconnecting a canopy and supporting poles where the top ends of the poles are inserted into receptor sockets in the edges of a canopy forming tarp.

In spite of the apparent ease and simplicity of erecting structures such as those illustrated in the foregoing notations of exemplary prior art, the biggest difficulty with the prior art concepts is their inability to withstand unexpected loads such as those imposed by high wind conditions. Especially in military service, it is important that the erected structure be able to remain intact under conditions of snow loads or high winds.

Accordingly, it is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a temporary shelter system that is compact for transportation, easy to erect and will tolerate high wind loads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Although the shelter system of the present invention involves several components, the fundamental element of the system are the poles that support the perimeter and the center sections of the fabric canopy that forms the top of the shelter. In their most basic form, each of the supporting poles comprise at least one cylindrical tube having an expansion plug disposed in the first end of the tube. The plug has a shaft disposed coaxially with the longitudinal axis of the tube which shaft serves as the anchor for one or more plate brackets that attach to exterior ground lines. The brackets may also serve as anchor points for horizontal cables that may support side curtains or the edges of the top canopy while interconnecting adjacent perimeter poles for additional structural integrity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the connector assembly carried in the top end of each supporting pole.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of the connector assembly carried in the top of each supporting pole.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the plate bracket that is part of the connector assembly.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a shelter system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of a typical tubular perimeter supporting pole having two abutting and aligned sections that are interconnected by a circumscribing collar.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a typical tubular ridge line supporting pole having three abutting and aligned sections that are interconnected at their joints by circumscribing collars.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An exemplary shelter system 2 of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4, to which reference is now made. A fabric, plastic or composite canopy 4 is supported by a plurality of spaced apart tubular perimeter support poles 6. The support poles are preferably made of ABS plastic pipe, or a similar product. Each of the perimeter poles contains a plate bracket 8 secured by a connector assembly to the pole's upper end. The bracket 8 is intended to be the anchor point for one or more ground lines 10. Preferably, the ground lines are fabric straps; however rope, cables and the like may be used. The lower ends of the ground lines are secured into the underlying ground with conventional stakes 13. The center of the canopy is preferably elevated over the height of the perimeter to form a ridge 15 through the use of extended length ridge line supporting poles 16. A horizontally disposed cable 18 may be strung taught between the connector assemblies of adjacent perimeter supporting poles from which cable may by hung side panels 20. In addition to their function as a hanger for side panels, the cables 18 serve to improve the structural integrity of the entire system.

The supporting poles 6 and 16 may each be constructed of a single tubular element. However, packing and transport efficiency demands that the poles have shorter lengths than the typical six feet for the perimeter poles 6 and seven and one half to eight feet for the ridge line poles 16. To serve this demand the perimeter poles preferably comprise two pieces of identical tubing 6 a and 6 b that are stacked, or placed end to end, as shown in FIG. 5. A rigid collar 22, preferably of the same type of tubing of which the poles are constructed, is circumscribed tightly around the joint formed by the abutting ends of the pipe sections 6 a and 6 b. The collar is secured in place by one or more hose clamps 24 which, when tightened, compress the collar around the tube by closing diametric compression slots 23 cut into the top and bottom ends of the collar underneath the positions of the hose clamps 24. As shown in FIG. 6, ridge line poles 16 are constructed in a similar manner to that of the perimeter poles 6 except that a third section 6 c is interposed in abutting relation to and between the top and bottom sections 6 a and 6 b. At each of the two joints formed where the sections 6 a and 6 c and sections 6 b and 6 c abut each other, a circumscribing collar 22, with securing hose clamps 24, is employed to maintain the sections in abutting relation and to provide resistance to bending at the joints.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the bottom sections 6 b of both supporting poles 6 and 16 are provided with end covering caps 26 to prevent the poles from working their way into the ground. An eye bolt 28 diametrically inserted into the bottom portion of each of the poles 6 and 16 receives a stake or spike 30 that is driven into the ground for providing an anchor for the bottom end of each of the supporting poles. The stake or spike 30 is equipped with a laterally extending hook 29 that engages the eye bolt 28 to hold the pole in its ground contacting position.

Having described the general aspects of the basic shelter system we turn to an explanation of the novel connector assembly 30 that is disposed in the upper end of each of the supporting poles 6 and 16, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIGS. 1 and 2 the supporting pole will be referred to as a perimeter pole 6 however it should be noted that the connector assembly 30 disposed in the top end of a ridge line pole 16 is of the same construction.

The connector assembly 30 is shown in an exploded view in FIG. 1 and in an assembled state in FIG. 2. The upper end of the hollow tubular pole 6 receives an expansion plug 32. The expansion plug itself is of conventional design such as those found in commercially available pipe plugs. To function in the assembly of the present invention the plug 32 includes a threaded shaft or pin 35 that, when in position within the tubular pole 6, is coaxial with the longitudinal center line of the tube. In addition to the pin 35, which may be the shaft of a carriage bolt, the expansion plug contains an elastic annular expander ring 37 and upper and lower expander cups 39 and 41. When tightened, the nut 43 threaded onto the shaft 35 of the carriage bolt over a lock washer 36 brings the two oppositely positioned cups 39 and 41 together forcing the annular ring 37 to expand in a diametrical direction. When the plug is positioned inside the tubular pole 6 and the nut 43 is tightened, the ring 37 expands into the interior of the tubular pole 6 and thus securely anchors the plug and its shaft 35 into the top end of the pole 6. Onto that portion of the carriage bolt shaft 35 that extends upwardly beyond the tightened nut 43 additional elements of the shelter system are attached.

If necessary or desirable, the closed eyes of tension cables 18 may be placed over the shaft 35 providing anchors for the ends of those cables whose function has been previously described.

Above the cable eyes, or above the nut 43 if the cables are not used, a pair of fender washers 46 a and 46 b are placed on the shaft 35 between which the shaft 35 receives an aperture 47 in the edge of the shelter canopy 4. This attachment between the canopy 4 and each of the perimeter poles 6 secures the edges of the canopy to the poles. A similar attachment between the shaft 35 and an aperture in the ridge of the canopy secures the canopy to the ridge line poles 16.

An aperture 51 in the plate bracket 8 is placed on the carriage bolt shaft 35 directly above the top fender washer 46 a. The plate bracket may contain a plurality of holes 55 near its outside edge for attachment of the upper ends of one or more ground lines 10. “S” hooks 59 are preferred as the intermediate connection between the ground lines and the bracket 8. The entire connector assembly is unitized by a nut 61 threaded onto the shaft 35 above the plate bracket 8. 

1. A shelter system comprising, at least one cylindrical tube having a longitudinal axis and first and second ends, an expansion plug disposed in the first end of the tube and having a shaft disposed coaxially with the longitudinal axis of the tube, and at least one bracket plate carried by the shaft.
 2. The shelter system of claim 1 and further including a flexible canopy having at least one perimetrically disposed aperture adapted to encircle the shaft.
 3. The shelter system of claim 2 and further including at least one cable member having a closed eye terminal end adapted to encircle the shaft.
 4. The shelter system of claim 1 where the cylindrical tube comprises, a plurality of diametrically identical cylindrical tubes disposed end to end with a common longitudinal axis, a cylindrical collar having first and second ends surrounding the juncture of the ends of the tubes, and hose clamp means surrounding the collar at each of its ends for clamping the collar to the two adjacent tubes.
 5. The shelter system of claim 1 and further comprising, a covering cap disposed over the second end of the tube, and an eye attached to the cap for receiving a ground stake.
 6. The shelter system of claim 1 and further comprising, an eye attached to the second end of the tube for receiving a ground stake.
 7. The shelter system of claim 1 where the shaft is at least partially threaded and further including a nut threaded onto the shaft and where the bracket plate is sandwiched between the nut and the expansion plug.
 8. The shelter system of claim 2 where the shaft is at least partially threaded and further including a nut threaded onto the shaft and where the bracket plate and the canopy are sandwiched between the nut and the expansion plug.
 9. The shelter system of claim 3 where the shaft is at least partially threaded and further including a nut threaded onto the shaft and where the bracket plate, the canopy and the closed cable eye are sandwiched between the nut and the expansion plug.
 10. A shelter system comprising, at least one cylindrical tube having a longitudinal axis and first and second ends, an expansion plug disposed in the first end of the tube and having a threaded shaft disposed coaxially with the longitudinal axis of the tube, a nut threaded onto the shaft, at least one bracket plate having means for attachment to tension strands and carried by the shaft and sandwiched between the nut and the expansion plug, and a flexible canopy having at least one perimetrically disposed aperture encircling the shaft and disposed between the bracket plate and the expansion plug.
 11. The shelter system of claim 10 and further including, at least one cable member having a closed eye terminal end encircling the shaft and disposed between the canopy and the expansion plug.
 12. The shelter system of claim 11 and further including, a covering cap disposed over the second end of the tube, and an eye attached to the cap for receiving a ground stake.
 13. The shelter system of claim 11 where the cylindrical tube comprises, a plurality of diametrically identical cylindrical tubes disposed end to end with a common longitudinal axis, a cylindrical collar having first and second ends surrounding the juncture of the ends of the tubes, and hose clamp means surrounding the collar at each of its ends for clamping the collar to the two adjacent tubes and form a tube of fixed length. 